Republican lawmakers, who won control of the House of Representatives in US legislative elections on Tuesday, have made clear they oppose a July 2011 target date for the start of a gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan, warning they will press their case when the new Congress convenes in January.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane before landing in Melbourne for annual security talks with Australia, Gates said the effect of the mid-term elections on the withdrawal plan "remains to be seen."

"Partly I think things will depend on our assessment next spring and early summer of how we're doing. I think that will have the biggest impact on the president's decisions in terms of the pacing" of a troop drawdown, Gates said Saturday.

The administration had always stressed that any reduction in troop levels would be determined by conditions on the ground, he said.

"It will be based more on that than ... domestic politics," he said.

The United States has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, serving along with some 50,000 non-US coalition forces.

President Barack Obama ordered in 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan last year in a bid to turn around the war, but also vowed to start pulling out troops by mid-2011.

Senior Republicans strongly oppose the deadline, saying it plays into the hands of the Taliban insurgency.

earlier related report
NATO probes report rogue Afghan soldier shot foreign troops
Kabul (AFP) Nov 6, 2010 - NATO and Afghan officials were Saturday probing reports a rogue Afghan soldier shot dead foreign troops -- said to be two US Marines -- on a base in the volatile south of the country, the alliance said.

A NATO official said that two US Marines had been killed in the incident, which took place in Helmand province late on Thursday night.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told AFP the Marines had been shot by an Afghan soldier who had been on the base for two to three weeks and was now missing.

Referring to it as a "green-on-green" incident, he said the Marines "weren't shot in their beds, they must have been on guard duty".

"Rounds were fired within the FOB (forward operating base) and an Afghan soldier was found to be missing the next morning," he said.

NATO's media office did not immediately confirm the details, saying it was aware of "the incident in Helmand province".

A team from ISAF and the Afghan government "is investigating the incident," it said. No further details were available.

The incident was initially reported early Saturday by Pakistan-based Afghan news agency Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).

AIP is not generally regarded as reliable and often publishes Taliban propaganda, including exaggerated claims of battlefield operations.

It quoted a Taliban spokesman saying an Afghan soldier had "shot and killed three foreign troops at a base in Sangin district of Helmand".

"The ANA soldier opened fire on foreign troops at a base in Tamirano area close to the headquarters of Sangin last night, killing three foreign soldiers, Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi, spokesman of Taliban, told Afghan Islamic Press," the report said.

It quoted Ahmadi saying the "soldier fled the base and joined Taliban".

Defence ministry official Mohammed Azim Mujahid was quoted by the German news agency DPA saying the killings happened when an Afghan soldier mistakenly opened fire on a NATO patrol.

"The soldier didn't have any contact with the Taliban. It was only an accident," he said.

Sangin has been labelled the most dangerous area in Afghanistan's long war, with British forces fighting there from 2006 until September, when they handed over to US Marines.

The British lost more than 100 troops in Sangin, around a third of the total number of military casualties the country has suffered in Afghanistan since the current insurgency began in late 2001.

Helmand's governer Gulabuddin Mangal, during a visit to London earlier this week, said that security in the area had improved since the Marines moved in, as they were better manned and equipped than their predecessors.

Sangin has a population of around 20,000 and is a key distribution and supply point for Taliban money and men, as well as the drugs cartels that dominate the area.

Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium, most of it produced in Helmand. The Taliban supply muscle to protect growers and distributers. Drugs money in turn helps fund the insurgency.

Incidents in which Afghan soldiers or police officers turn on Western troops are rare, but raise questions about the multi-billion-dollar international effort to train and mentor Afghanistan's security forces.

In July a renegade Afghan soldier shot and killed three British army Gurkhas and wounded several others on a base in Helmand province.

In August, an Afghan police officer killed two Spanish paramilitary police officers and a Spanish interpreter during a training session at a base in Badghis province.

On Saturday Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, telling Spanish radio: "We are not here to stay but we have a firm commitment until the Afghans can guarantee their own security."

US President Barack Obama has set a deadline of July 2011 to begin drawing down combat troops as public opinion in the United States and its NATO partners turns against continued engagement in Afghanistan.

Integral to a withdrawal is the ability of Afghanistan's military and police to take over responsibility for national security.

The United States and NATO have more than 150,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgency. More than 620 foreign soldiers have died this year.

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